1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cup holder, which is disposed in automotive passenger rooms. More specifically, it relates to a cup holder, which enables a user to stably hold containers, which have various diameters, by snap action or through one-touch operation.
2. Description of the Related Art
A cup holder, which is disposed in an automobile passenger room, comprises a movable supporting member, which is capable of supporting containers with various diameters. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2005-112330 discloses a cup holder, which comprises a supporting bench being disposed horizontally and rotatably. According to the gazette, the supporting bench can support beverage containers, which have various sizes. Moreover, the gazette also discloses that the cup holder is further provided with locking means for fixing the supporting bench at a specific rotary position on the rotary shaft.
In the conventional cup holder, both supporting bench and locking means should be operated manually. Accordingly, in order to stably hold a container, two rounds of operations are required; that is, an operation for rotating the supporting bench inward into the holder opening; and an operation for actuating the locking means. Moreover, even when putting the supporting bench in the out-of-service state, two rounds of operations are required as well; that is, an operation for releasing the locking means; and an operation for rotating the supporting bench outward out of the holder opening.
Moreover, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 2005-199989 discloses a cup holder, which comprises: a plurality of supporting arms working as a supporting member; urging springs for urging the supporting arms in such a direction that the supporting arms retreat outward out of the holder openings; ring-shaped members for moving the supporting arms in such a direction that the supporting arms advance inward into the holder openings; and operation knobs for actuating the ring-shaped members.
According to the second conventional cup holder, it is possible to automatically move the supporting arms in such a direction that the supporting members advance inward into the holder openings by operating the operation knobs, and thereby it is possible to stably hold a container in the conventional cup holder. However, when holding another container, a series of the following troublesome manipulations have become necessary: namely, moving the supporting arms in such a direction that the supporting arms retreat outward out of the holder openings by operating the operation knobs; removing the container, which is held in one of the holder openings; putting another container into one of the holder openings; and then moving the supporting arms in such a direction that the supporting arms advance inward into the holder openings by operating the operation knobs again.
As can be understood from the gazettes, the conventional cup holders have been associated with the problem that the operation for holding a container therein or the operation for holding another containers with different diameters has caused troubles. Hence, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) No. 10-166928, it has been devised to carry out the operations in an electrically-powered manner using an electric motor. However, the resulting cup holder has turned into a very costly one.